Cardiff/Glamorgan

A day in the Life...

While the games against the First Class Counties might be the highlight of the season for the players as individuals, the MCC 2-Day competition is certainly the most important cricket we play, there is a huge amount of banter both on and off the field.

It is an 11 o’clock start, which usually means getting up sometime shortly after 7am. A solid hotel breakfast provides an opportunity for players like Matthew Wood to see what 7:30 am looks like! As the last slice of toast disappears Kevin Lyons is guaranteed to be revving the bus with a view to leaving earlier than agreed – with or without a full compliment of players!

Once at the ground, dive into the changing room first to grab a corner spot, where during the match, your kit will inexorably gravitate towards the floor. Our notoriously early warm-ups at Cardiff mean that within minutes of arriving at the ground Kev can be seen prowling the outfield, bat in hand, looking for unsuspecting first years to welcome with a few extra high catches!

A quick chat with a few mates from the opposition on the way out to the warm up, usually accompanied by jeers of derision from Fisher and Beacham about too much friendliness with the opposition, and the banter has begun for the day. Despite, or perhaps because of, the fact that most of the players know each other from past encounters, this competition is fiercely competitive. As such when you arrive at the crease any concern that the opposition might be over friendly with you with is snarled away immediately.

As always, lunch and tea provide some respite and a chance to assess whether the session’s goals have been met. Lunch and tea can be a mixed bag depending on where you play, with two South Wales grounds in particular providing a spectacular cake selection! Naturally Rushbrook and Beacham are shepherded quietly towards the fruit.

Close of play on day one, and hopefully a good day. If you batted first, you would like to have either declared six or eight overs prior to close with in excess of 350, otherwise continue batting overnight. If you bowled first, hopefully a run chase is already underway. It is essentially a one innings match, with the final ten overs of day two often providing a brief second innings and a chance for further bonus points.

A brief warm down, meeting and shower followed by an equally swift bus journey back to the hotel! By now it might be around 8pm and a team meal in the hotel, followed by a quiet glass of coke in town offers a chance to relax and have look at any delights the city centre may offer. Naturally all members of the side make the team curfew, with an early night being a seminal factor in performance on the second day as you look to close out a win.